This invention generally relates to an adaptor which facilitates use of fluorescent lamps in light fixtures designed for incandescent lamps.
Fluorescent lighting is well known to be more energy efficient than incandescent lighting of equivalent output. The increases in energy costs over the last decade have provided a significant incentive to convert the existing incandescent lighting to fluorescent lighting, but unfortunately in many instances the conversion costs have been prohibitively high.
Small fluorescent bulbs have become available and adaptors have been developed which enable use of such small fluorescent bulbs in sockets designed for incandescent lighting. However, the adaptors developed were relatively large because of the need for ballast when using fluorescent lamps, and on occasions the fluorescent lamp would extend outwardly so far that the lamp fixture in which the fluorescent lamp was installed would have to be modified significantly in order to mount a decorative cover. These adaptors were for the most part aesthetically very unattractive and usually their use was limited to those situations where the adaptor was completely covered or otherwise unseen.
Efforts have been made to develop adaptors which would reduce the outward extension of fluorescent lamps when using such adaptors, but such developments have not been completely successful. For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,495,443 (Cummings), an adaptor is described having a screw plug in which the starter housing of the fluorescent lamp is seated therein so that the distance between the tip of the fluorescent lamp and the opposite end of the screw plug is substantially reduced. However, with the particular structure described, the ballast required by the fluorescent lamp was provided in an exterior housing which extended parallel to the light bulb and this made the entire lamp assembly very cumbersome to screw into existing incandescent sockets and, moreover, made the mounting of decorative covers difficult and, in some situations, impossible without significant modifications to the light fixture. Additionally, the adaptor was unsightly and was not acceptable for use in installations where it would be seen.
Thus, it is evident that the need remains for an easily installed, aesthetically pleasing adaptor that facilitates the use of fluorescent lamps in incandescent light sockets which do not require significant modifications to the light fixture to mount a decorative cover. The present invention satisfies this need.